-~C^-^^. 



. '[-M^ CS[CktmAxl\hid(^l*^ ^ ^^Mm^ttI, 



F 574 


\ 


.B38 


S8 


Copy 


1 



5 a'' 



B 



AND ITS 



EAVER ISLAND mormon kingdom 



BY CHAS. J. STRANG, ONE OF 'KING' STRANG'S SONS 




EAVER ISLAND, the largest in Lake Michig-ati, lies about thirty miles 
north'west of Little Traverse Bay. From 1850 to 1856 this island was 
the headquarters of a band of people -who assumed for themselves 
rig-hts and prerogatives contrary to the spirit of our constitution and la-vvs, and 
whose acts made a considerable portion of the history of the Traverse region for 
that decade. The rise and fall of the "kingdom" which then flourished there 
will always be a prolific subject for writers who visit this northern countr}'. 

These people called themselves "Latter Day Saints," but they were better 



"M^ ^TOf'tmu?' AiJ^uAj I ^^,^>4rr I 



7 



F 574 


\ 


.B38 


S8 


Copy 


1 






REAVER ISLAND mormoT kingdom 

BY CHAS. J. STRANG, ONE OF 'KING" STRANG'S SONS 

EAVER ISLAND, the larg-est in Lake Michig-an, lies about thirty miles 
northwest of Little Traverse Bay. From 1850 to 1856 this island was 
the headquarters of a band of people who assumed for themselves 
rig-hts and prerog^atives contrary to the spirit of our constitution and laws, and 
whose acts made a considerable portion of the history of the Traverse reg-ion for 
that decade. The rise and fall of the "king-dom" which then flourished there 
will always be a prolific subject for writers who visit this northern country. 

These people called themselves "Latter Day Saints," but they were better 




im=lNDIAN COMPANY 




|NE of the interesting- features of the late Civil War was a companj^ of 
Indian soldiers who foug-ht under Grant from the battle of the Wilder- 
ness until the surrender of the Confederates at Appomattox Court House. 
"Company K, First Michig-an Sharpshooters," was composed almost entirely 
of Indians from the Little Traverse Reg-ion. Of the 100 men who left to fig-ht 
for their country, scarcely half that number returned. The company was org-an- 
ized at Little Traverse in 1863 by Lieut. G. A. Graveraet, a g-allant young- 
soldier, who fell mortally wounded in the battle before Petersburg-, after dig-g-ing- 
a g-rave for his father who fell by his side. 

Letters received home from superior officers stated that the Indians were 
among- the best soldiers in the service. They entered each battle with vim and 
vig-or and foug-ht as g-allantly for that same country under the stars and stripes 
as their ancestors did when they defended it from the whites under the feathers 
of the wild American Eag-le. 



w 



EOSMA: THE OTTAWAS 



IN READMOND township, 'neath the wide spreading- boug-hs of a larg-e oak, 
is a mound which marks the hist resting- place of one of the noble red 
men of the forest. 
Having heard that there was a story connected with the one whose remains 
were interred beneath the sod, the writer asked an old native who resided near 
by if he could inform him of the circumstances of the case. " Bad story; me 
tell you," replied the old Indian, and as he lig-hted his pipe I sat down on a log- 
beside him while he related the following- sad tale: 

During the palmiest days of the Ottawa Indians, when their arrows broug-ht 
the crimson blood spouting- forth from many a wild deer and their war-whoops 
sent terror to the hearts of the braves of contemporary tribes, Weosma, a brave 



BEAVER ISLAND 65 



known as Mormons. Their leader was James J. Strang-, who called himself a 
"king-," and assumed man}- of the prerog-atives of a monarch. 

Mr. Strang- was born in Scipio, N. Y., March 21. 1813, but g-rew to man- 
hood in Chautauqua Count}'. His education was obtained in the public schools of 
the county, closing- with a course in the Fredonia Academy. He studied 
law, and was admitted to the bar. In 1843 he settled in Burling-ton, Wis., 
and some time before the death of Joseph Smith, in 1844, he visited 
Nauvoo and became a Mormon. After Smith's death, Strang- disputed with 
Brig-ham Young- the right to lead the church, and succeeded in g-athering- 
quite a larg-e following- at his "stake of Zion " in Wisconsin. In 1847 he visited 
Beaver Island, and decided to establish his people there, founding- the villag-e of 
St. James, which was named in honor of himself. On July 8, 185U, he reorg-an- 
ized his church and established the "king-dom," and from that day he was 
known as "King- Strang-." His authority was respected and obeyed by the 
"Saints," and as cheerfully hated and opposed by the "Gentiles." He controlled 
the Mormon vote, and was elected to the Leg-islature of 1853, and ag-ain in 1855. 

The practice of "consecration" led to many conflicts between the Mor- 



66 THE OTTAWAN 



mons and Gentile fishermen in that vicinity. Such expressions as "The 
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof," and, "We are the Lord's chosen 
people, " stilled the consciences and justified the use of property lawfully owned 
by others, yet it is undoubtedly true that many depredations were committed by 
irresponsible persons and deliberately charg-ed to the Mormons. 

Mr. Strang- had frequent collisions with the authorities at Mackinac, but 
with his knowledg-e of the law, and his readiness in debate, he cleared himself 
from every chargfe. At one time the Sheriff of Mackinac County hunted him three 
days in the wilds of the island with a posse of ten whites and thirty Indians, 
and offered a reward of $300 for his body, dead or alive, but Mr. Strang- eluded 
them and avoided arrest. 

In the spring- of 1856 matters reached a crisis. A resident of the island, 
Mr. Thomas Bedford, had been publicly flog-g-ed by Mr. Strang-'s authority, and 
he determined to have reveng-e. He enlisted the support of a few others, among- 
them Mr. Alex. Wentworth, and they decided to kill Mr. Strang-. The oppor- 
tunity came on June 20, when the U. S. steamer Michig-an was in the harbor at 
St. James, Strang- was fatally shot, after which Bedford, Wentworth, and some 






ki;mi>i:.\( |.; ok jamks j. stkang on bkavek island fku.^ 



'KUM LSSU To l,s5o 



68 THE OTTAWAN 



others were taken to Mackinac, " tried," and acc^uitted. After the acquittal, 
Bedford and his friends org^anized a company at Mackinac and other points near 
the islands, and returned to St. James and drove from their homes every Mormon 
except a very few who were willing- to renounce their religion. Strang-'s house 
and printing- office were ransacked and robbed of everything of value; the taber- 
nacle was destroyed, and the property of the Mormons confiscated and divided 
among- the raiders. Warning- was served on the Mormons to lei^ye the island 
within a specified time. The warning- was heeded, a few going- to Xhe mainland 
near Charlevoix, but the main body proceeded to Milwaukee and Chicag-o. Mr. 
Strang was removed to Wisconsin, where he died July 9, 1856. 

Strang-'s house, which has been raised by recent writers to the dignity of a 
"royal palace," was substantially built of hewn log's, and after the dispersion of 
the Mormons it became the mecca of relic hunters, and so continued until 1892, 
when it was destroyed by fire. 

Of the present residents of the villag-e of St. James, the majority are Irish 
Catholics, many of them having- g-one there directly from Ireland. The principal 
occupation of the people is fishing-, and they live happy and contented in their 
island home. 




Q ;•■ ^^ INDIAN LAWSUIT 

OMETIME during- the year 1830, Dun-a-ag-e-ee, an Indian, killed his 
niece, a beautiful g^irl of sixteen summers, near Seven Mile Point. 

The Indians knew that Dun-a-ag-e-ee had committed a terrible crime, 
and the friends of the young" g-irl wished to punish him as the white people did 
their criminals, but as they had no method in their native customs of disposing- 
of such cases, except by barbaric forms, they went for advice to Col. Bo3'd, a 
white haired veteran of the war of the revolution, who resided at Mackinac 
Island, and who had much influence among- them. Mr. Boyd, fearing- to make 
enemies of Dun-a-age-ee's friends, told the Indians he would have nothing to do 
with the matter and advised them to mete out to the prisoner whatever punish- 
ment thev found he deserved by some proceedings of their own. 

After much consultation, the chiefs decided to hold a lawsuit. So a larg-e 



70 THE OTTAWAN 



wig-warn was built on the bluff near Seven Mile Point and all the relatives of 
the murderer and his victim assembled and also a number of onlookers. 

On either side of the tent were long" benches, the relatives of Dun-a-ag-e-ee 
on one side, and those of the murdered g-irl on the other, the oldest member of 
the family being" seated at the head and so on down. 

At the head of the tent on an elevated platform, sat A-pock-o-ze-g-un, the 
g-reat chief of the Ottawas, his person ornamented with feathers and beads and 
wearing- his beautifull}^ embroidered blanket, as was customary at g-reat events. 
In the center of the tent were g-reat piles of furs, blankets, butts of tobacco, 
g-uns, ammunition, etc. Outside were horses, cattle, in fact, everything- that the 
Indians considered wealth, broug-ht there by the relatives of Dun-a-ag-e-ee to buy 
their kinsman's liberty. 

When the time for the trial arrived Chief A-pock-o-ze-g^un arose and made a 
short, eloquent speech in his native tong-ue. He said they were not g-athered to 
aveng-e the murdered g-irl, as their priest told them God would do that; but they 
were there for the purpose of making- peace between the estrang-ed kinsmen. 

He then produced a caluma (long- pipe), from one of the medicine men pre- 



AN INDIAN LAWSUIT 71 



sent, and, filling- it with tobacco lit it by a flint and steel. After he had taken 
a long- puff he presented it to the first of Dun-a-age-ee's relatives, his father, 
who smoked it as a token of peace. 

The chief said, " Me-sa-gwa-uck," which means "that's right," and passed it 
to the next man, who likewise took a puff, and so on, to the end of that row. 

The chief then passed the pipe to the first one on the other side, a girl, 
who, after some hesitation, took it and smoked. All followed her example, down 
to the first of two of the girl's brothers, who sat at the upper end. The 
brother shook his head and said "kaw" (no). 

The chief muttered "too bad," and taking the pipe, emptied it of its con- 
tents. Then he refilled it, and lighting it, handed it to the last brother. 

"Kaw! kaw!" he said, indignantly, and turning to his other brothers and 
sisters, who had smoked the pipe of peace, he rebuked them fiercely, saying that for 
those few articles they were willing to sacrifice their sister's life, but that he 
would not rest till he had killed the villain. 

The friends of Dun-a-age-ee advised him to fly lest the brother kill him, and 
he accordingly left for the Saginaws, where he remained until the man who had 
sworn the vendetta was dead. 



10 



B 



^™^SEA SERPENT 

ESIDES its natural beauties and historical interest, Little Traverse Bay 
presents another attraction of a peculiar nature which in late 3'ears has 
caused much interest throug-hout the countr}-. We hav^e reference to 
the famous sea serpent. The Indians have alwa3's claimed that some g-reat 
marine monster inhabited the bay, but, of course, as these people are very 
superstitious, their belief should be g-iven little credence. Yet the appearance 
of some strang-e creature in the waters of the ba}- may have had something- to 
do with the orig-in of their leg-end. 

Several times in late years different persons claim to have seen while in a 
boat and oftentimes from the shore a g-reat monster in the bay. 

On one occasion while a steamer was carrying- a crowd of pleasure seekers 
from Petoskey to Charlevoix, a larg-e number of the excursionists viewed tog-ether 
what appeared to be a long- serpent making- its wa^- at a rapid rate throug-h the 
water. 



THE SEA SERPENT 



73 



Many people, however, disclaim the stories and say it is all iniag-ination. 
But if people are subject to optical illusions, the camera is not. The accompan}-- 
ing- picture of the serpent was taken from the steam ferry "Adrienne " while 
crossing' the bay 
from Petoskey to 
Harbor Springs in 
June, 1895. That 
it was not a log" 
is vouchsafed for 
by the fact that 
it disappeared 
from view as the 
boat approached 
it. Whether the 
object was a liv- 
ing thing- or not 
remains a mystery. 



'*^^ 4^ itfiH ii I iKiii^ 




U' 





74 THE OTTAWAN 



Some of the people residing- upon the bay, whose enthusiasm g-ot the better 
of their judg-ment, obtained a distorted log- and tried to palm it off as the sea 
serpent, but the object seen so many times in the waters of Little Traverse Bay, 
is something of a far different nature than an ordinary log-. 

No doubt imag-ination has had much to do with this sea serpent, but it 
would not be very surprising if a marine monster of some description had taken 
a particular fancy to the surrounding-s of the bay and had made it his home, 
allowing- himself to be seen just often enoug-h to arouse the curiosity of the 
people. 



WEOSMA: A TALE OF THK OTTAWAS 77 



warrior and hunter, whose aim was perfect and whose foot was as lig-ht as a 
fleeting- deer's, resided with his ag-ed mother among- a peaceful clan of these 
Indians who had pitched their tents where Cross Villag-e now stands. 

All the young- maidens of the villag-e vied with each other in trying- to win 
this brave young- hunter's hand, but he was heedless to their attentions and 
lived happily in the company of his mother. But as Cupid was not absent, only 
sleeping-, the wanting- one at last appeared and awoke the nymph of love to his 
hig-hest pitch, and Weosma was a victim as helpless as any ever was before. 

His enamorate was Enewah, the bewitching- daug-hter of a great chief who 
ruled over the tribe in the reg-ion of Little Traverse. Weosma had first met her 
while on a hunting- expedition and ever after that eventful day his life was not 
the same; he was unhappy when out of her company and he exerted himself 
in performing brave deeds that he might be worthy of Enewah's love. Enewah 
in turn looked with favor upon his attentions and their wedding day was fixed, 
and all looked bright and promising for the future life of the happy couple. 
But like the adder that stingeth in the dark, an evil one appeared upon the 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 



78 THE OTTAWAN ® ®^^ ®^"^ 884 3 

scene, who by the fertility of a reveng-eful brain, forev.er blig-hted their happy 
life. 

Amo, a rejected suitor of Knewah's, had sworn revenge upon the fair 
young- maiden, and now came a glorious opportunity to carry out his vendetta. 

Great preparations had been made for the wedding day. As Weosma was a 
very popular young man, all the chiefs and medicine men of the tribe were to 
hold a great feast in honor of his success. The evening previous to the great 
occasion Amo arrived at Enewah's wigwam in breathless haste and warned the 
girl not to marry a young man who was already betrothed to a woman 
of another tribe, which, to the Ottawas, was a great crime. Enewah only 
laughed in scorn at Amo's scheme and turned away, saying that Weosma was 
too good a man to do anything of that sort. Then Amo told the story to her 
father, the great chief, who thinking him his friend, forbid his daughter marry- 
ing such a scoundrel as Weosma was proven to be. 

When Weosma arrived eit Enewah's wigwam that evening to finish prepara- 
tions for the next day, the chief received him very coldly and told him what he 



\^ 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 




78 



THE OTTAWAN 



016 097 884 3 



scene, who by the fertility of a reveng-eful brain, forev.er blig-hted their happy 
life. 

Amo, a rejected suitor of Enewah's, had sworn reveng-e upon the fair 
young- maiden, and now came a g-lorious opportunity to carry out his vendetta. 

Great preparations had been made for the wedding- day. As Weosma was a 
very popular ^'oung- man, all the chiefs and medicine men of the tribe were to 
hold a g-reat feast in honor of his success. The evening- previous to the g-reat 
occasion Amo arrived at Enewah's wig-wam in breathless haste and warned the 
g-irl not to marry a young man who was already betrothed to a woman 
of another tribe, which, to the Ottawas, was a g-reat crime. Enewah only 
laughed in scorn at Amo's scheme and turned away, saying- that Weosma was 
too good a man to do anything- of that sort. Then Amo told the story to her 
father, the g-reat chief, who thinking- him his friend, forbid his daughter marry- 
ing- such a scoundrel as Weosma was proven to be. 

When Weosma arrived at Enewah's wigwam that evening- to finish prepara- 
tions for the next day, the chief received him very coldly and told him what he 



